The current state of the art employs a dedicated logical control channel, e.g., a dedicated frequency, a dedicated slot used for control, etc. A disadvantage with the current state of the art is that the bandwidth is wasted if no control signaling is in the transmit queue. Another disadvantage of the current state of the art is even if control signaling is in the transmit queue, a base station or subscriber unit could be inundated with very high priority user-payload packets, higher in priority than the control, requiring the entire offered throughput of the channel. If there is a dedicated control channel, as in the current state of the art, this control channel is not typically reallocated for temporary burst of higher priority packets, thus incurring needless delays of high priority user-payload packets. The same is true for control; high priority control signaling may require the entire offered throughput of the channel, preempting user payload traffic.
In addition, when the offered throughput of the channel exceeds the needed throughput of the assigned user currently assigned to the channel, the additional throughput is wasted. In the current state of the art, this additional throughput cannot be reassigned to other users.
Thus, there exists a need for maximizing throughput for control and/or user-payload on a slot-by-slot basis based upon priority.